Objectives and Background The main aim of the SOCIOEC FP7-KBBE-2011-5 project under KBBE.2011.1.2-10 (Socio-economic effects of the main management principles of the future CFP: impact of new policy framework and opportunities for the fishing sector) was to evaluate innovative fisheries management measures and develop self- and co-management. It has been important that the project focused on the interpretation of overarching (i.e. EU) objectives in local and regional contexts.

Deliverables and Tasks In the first step the project developed a coherent and consistent set of objectives for fisheries management, which addressed ecological, economic and social sustainability targets. The objectives were consistent with the aims of the CFP, MSFD and other EU directives, but also understandable by stakeholders and the community and engaged their support. This leaded to the proposal of a number of innovative management measures, based on existing or new approaches. The second step was to analyze the incentives for compliance provided by these measures through examination of fisher’s responses to and perceptions of measures based on historical analysis, direct consultation and interviews, and how the governance of the measures operated. Finally, the project examined the impact of the measures that emerge from this process, particularly in terms of their economic and social impacts on the industry and the wider community. All this was done through a generic analysis of the wide range of current and emerging measures in the current CFP and possible measures introduced in the future. This required and has resulted in interdisciplinary work across a range of scientific disciplines (economics, social and natural sciences). DTU Aqua was involved in the North Sea and Baltic Sea case studies and in the project Steering Group. For the North Sea, DTU Aqua focused on analyses of catch quotas compared to landing quotas in mixed consume fisheries including related discard processes. Also, small meshed pelagic fisheries in the North Sea were addressed for efficient management of those. For the Baltic Sea, DTU Aqua focused on evaluation of spatial management measures among other in relation to NATURA 2000 areas and implementation of windmill farms, and larger marine constructions. This resulted in evaluation of success and failures of several management measures, and enabled us to draw conclusions on which measures are best introduced in which circumstances, possibly on a regional basis. On this basis DTU Aqua has produced several peer reviewed journal papers under SOCIOEC. In the CFP we need to distinguish between the basic, overarching regulations of the EU or regional seas level and the specific and local management by Member States in sea areas where self- and co-management schemes are often already informally in place. Here the cooperation with the ACs was essential to derive objectives applicable for the CFP based on the ecological, economic and social drivers and to reconsider management at more regional or local levels. This process involved: (i) investigation of how the objectives regarding ecological, economic and social sustainability could be defined in the short term and ensures the long-term sustainability and viability of fisheries; (ii) analyzing which management measures and at what organization level, created the right incentives to tackle structural failings in the CFP with focus on technical measures, command and control instruments (TACs, quotas, effort), market instruments (transferability of collective or individual rights) and social instruments (self- or co-management possibilities); and (iii) determination of the socio-economic and spatial effects of these management measures.

The project had 30 project participants from European universities and National Fisheries Economics and Fisheries Research Institutes as well as SMEs.

The project was coordinated by Institute of Sea Fisheries, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Germany.